Three teams of Syracuse firefighters will enter the Sept. 27 Tunnel to Towers Run in New York City, which honors first response emergency workers killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. All local donations will go to related charities, with half the money returning to the Clark Burn Center in Syracuse. You can donate here, or by sending checks to the "Tunnel to Towers Run," in care of the Syracuse Firefighters, P.O. Box 11161, Syracuse, 13218.

When they were young, Russ Siller and Phil Kelly attended the same downstate Franciscan seminaries. They formed a connection that endured as life took them in different directions.

So Russ wasn't really that surprised in 2002, when Phil -- by then, a Franciscan friar in Syracuse -- emerged from the crowd at the first Tunnels to Tower Run in New York City. The event was created to pay tribute to one of Russ' siblings, Stephen Siller, who died when the twin towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001.

Steve, youngest of seven children, was a firefighter. He was off-duty, on his way to meet Russ and two of their brothers for some golf, when terrorists flew two jetliners into the World Trade Center. Steve turned around. He drove to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, where police were stopping traffic. He got out and ran toward the towers, lugging roughly 65 pounds of gear.

He ran three miles. He was one of 343 firefighters who did not return.

"From the time he was 19 or so, after he got done getting himself straightened out, he just seemed to live his life for other people," said Russ, 67, who was 24 years older than Steve. "What he did on 9/11 is basically what he'd been doing for his entire life."

Russ, as a young man, left the seminary and eventually became a teacher. Years later, after his mother and father grew ill and died too young, Russ and his wife opened their home to Steve, who was still a boy. During difficult times, Russ would often recall the teachings of St. Francis, including what seemed to be an utter contradiction:

"The whole definition of 'the perfect joy' is that when things get impossible, that's how you experience perfect joy," Russ said. "I believe that's how my family got through all of this."

The Tunnel to Towers Run is built around that philosophy. The goal, conceived in the months after the attacks, was to allow runners to recreate Steve's route as a means of larger tribute. The Sillers weren't sure how authorities would react to the idea, which would demand closing down a heavily-traveled route in Manhattan.

But the race provided a way for a wounded community to act upon its grief, and Friar Phil Kelly assumed an annual role. He would travel from Syracuse to help with registration. He watched as the event grew from 2,700 entrants in its first year to about 20,000 a year ago.

To Russ, Phil was "a big-souled person" with a gift for providing comfort amid grief. In Syracuse, he was known for his work with those in need, with struggling families on the edge. At the run, Steve's children came to see him as a loving annual visitor, Russ said.

At the Little Gem Diner, left to right: Charlie Duffy , Ted Ackerman, Tom Reidy andCollin Duffy - all representing the Syracuse Fire Department - will be participating in the Tunnel to Towers Run in New York City.David Lassman | dlassman@syracuse.com

Fifteen years ago, Phil broke two vertebrae in his back during an epileptic seizure. From that point on, he often used a wheelchair. It didn't stop him from entering the race and retracing the path of Steve Siller.

He brought that passion back to Syracuse. From his work on the North Side, Phil knew Ted Ackerman, a city firefighter. Phil suggested that the Syracuse Fire Department might want to enter its own team.

"When he talked," Ted said, "I listened."

Two years ago, Ted entered the race and became as caught up in it as Phil. He watched as many firefighters, police officers and other runners carried heavy equipment along the three-mile route to honor Steve's effort. Ted ran out of the tunnel to see a crowd packed around a line of banners that honored emergency workers lost on Sept. 11.

In 2008, he returned with a Syracuse team that raised more than $3,000 in donations, with half the money going to the Clark Burn Center at University Hospital. This year, three teams of local firefighters are expected to compete in the race on Sept. 27.

For the first time, Phil was also planning on bringing a team from within his religious order. Andre Picotte, a Franciscan brother, helped him design a special T-shirt for the race.

It portrays a friar blessing a firefighter. Friday, during calling hours at Assumption Church, the T-shirt hung from the side of Phil's casket.

He died Monday, in Syracuse, at 77. His funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. today, at the church. Brother Joe Freitag, Franciscan co-minister at Assumption, said Phil learned five months ago that he had a rare form of cancer. He had hoped to make it one last time to the Tunnel to Towers Run, but the cancer moved too fast.

Thursday, speaking from greater New York, Russ Siller said race organizers created a special honor they planned to give out this year, an honor to reflect the whole spirit of the race. It is called the Perfect Joy Award, but the first winner will not be there to receive it.

Even so, Friar Phil remains a presence at the race.

"He's on my mind right now," Russ said. "He'll be on my mind tomorrow. I don't have to see him for his effect to last."